LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

*Revenge*


Revenge (2011) Season One, streams from netflix.

There is only one super power,  unlimited wealth. When you are super rich you get  the other superpowers: perfectly pretty youth and awesome hacker ability. 

This series, at least the first season, is first class trashy fun – as are the Jacobean plays on which it's modeled, such as HamletThe Spanish Tragedy, and particularly the extravagant The Revenger’s Tragedy – though the television version of this wildly popular form of Renaissance drama is missing the obscenity and signature consciously comic effects of that later development.

This series’ first season is the Evil Stepmother and Snow White, with a strong dash of Glenn Close's Damages’s play with the narrative's chronology. We also have the now requisite competing boyfriends: Team Daniel and Team Jack. 

It may be difficult to keep a veneer of plausibility past this first season. Once we know it all and the protagonist’s antagonists have been punished, where do you go?  The following seasons become pointless shifting of relationships and motivations: now we’re good after all, now we’re bad again -- losing the sizzle of the first season. That’s what happened with Veronic Mars. There’s a reason that Revenge was called the first contender to take the place of Lost, which, in the end, went nowhere.

Second season of Lost, er, Revenge starts at the end of this month.

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